Temporary bans in Boca Raton, Coral Springs, Margate, Tamarac and
Pembroke Pines have become permanent, effectively keeping dispensaries
out of certain communities and drawing concerns from medical
marijuana's proponents. They join at least seven other South Florida
cities with bans.

More than 80 state legislative or statewide campaigns and campaign
committees have accepted some $800,000 from the medical marijuana
industry during the 2018 election cycle, according to a review of
campaign finance records by the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

That could mean the closure of accounts and a scramble to find a place
to deposit campaign funds. Wells Fargo decided to close the campaign
account of Democratic Agriculture Commissioner candidate Nikki Fried
after she accepted industry money. She then opened an account with
BB&T, which also promptly closed it. She now banks with Florida
Community Bank.

SARASOTA -- Several panelists made their cases in a Thursday forum for
why marijuana should no longer be classified by the federal government
as a Schedule 1 drug as dangerous as heroin.

The program focused on the Herald-Tribune project "Warriors Rise Up,"
which found a gaping rift between what many combat veterans want to
treat their post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries
and what they can legally get.

Rather than a cocktail of painkillers, many veterans prefer the relief
they receive from marijuana. Because of marijuana's Schedule 1
designation under federal law, however, the VA has not considered it
an option -- even in states that have legalized the drug for medical
use.

A decade after first appearing in the United States, fake weed is seen
as a growing health danger.

Some marijuana smokers turned to it because it is relatively cheap and
not detected in routine drug testing. Dozens of people in New Haven,
Conn., went to the hospital this week after overdosing on a batch of
synthetic marijuana.

A look at the issue:

While states have moved to legalize traditional marijuana, fake pot
has become a public health threat. Synthetic marijuana is a
mind-altering drug made by taking plant material and spraying it with
chemicals that can mimic the high from marijuana. It is sold under
names like K2, AK47, Spice, Kush, Kronic, and Scooby Snax.

A budding medical marijuana industry has slowly been gaining
acceptance in Central Florida as lawmakers consider regulations and
the number of approved dispensaries grow.

But as medicinal solutions land most of the support, advocates say
it's only a matter of time before full legalization lands on the table.

At the Orlando Marijuana Expo, a workshop and advocacy event Saturday
at UCF, attorney Carrie McClain said the piecemeal approach to
legalization would not be effective but has helped build some momentum.

You can't take it with you. Actually, you can. But it's not a good
idea when you're traveling, especially for the risk-averse.

We speak, of course, of cannabis; its use was approved by 57% of
California voters in November 2016. Proposition 64, known as the Adult
Use of Marijuana Act, allows the recreational use of marijuana in the
Golden State; medical marijuana had been legal for about a decade
before that.

Legal, it should be noted, in California. Not legal according to
federal law, although President Trump has signaled his willingness to
support legislation that, according to an L.A. Times article, would
"end the federal ban on marijuana."

TALLAHASSEE -- Chiding a judge who sided with sick patients and saying
plaintiffs likely won't win on the merits of the case, an appellate
court on Tuesday refused to allow smokable medical marijuana while a
legal fight continues to play out.

The ruling by a three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal
came in a lawsuit initiated by Orlando trial attorney John Morgan and
others who maintain that a Florida law barring patients from smoking
their treatment runs afoul of a 2016 constitutional amendment that
broadly legalized medical marijuana.

Jeff Greene, the Palm Beach billionaire who this week joined a crowded
slate of Democrats seeking to replace Gov. Rick Scott, shared his
thoughts about marijuana with Truth or Dara during a lengthy interview
that included some chit-chat about Willie Nelson and air pods.

(Spoiler alert: He's a fan of both the musician and the technology).

On medical marijuana, Greene's got the same take as his competitors,
who've all come out in support of allowing patients to smoke their
treatment.

You could be in luck: Florida's Medical Marijuana Industry Is Beginning
To Take Off

Medical marijuana dispensary hiring in Florida is beginning to
germinate, as existing operators prepare to open new stores and other
companies enter the market.

In South Florida, legal growers operate only a handful of
dispensaries. But those dispensaries -- including Knox Medical,
Curaleaf and Trulieve -- are laying the groundwork for new locations
in the tricounty region and across the state. And California-based
MedMen is getting ready to enter the market, which could heat up
competition.

A British pharmaceutical company is getting closer to a decision on
whether the U.S government will approve the first prescription drug
derived from the marijuana plant, but parents who for years have used
cannabis to treat severe forms of epilepsy in their children are
feeling more cautious than celebratory.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to decide by the end
of the month whether to approve GW Pharmaceuticals' Epidiolex. It's a
purified form of cannabidiol -- a component of cannabis that doesn't
get users high -- to treat Dravet and Lennox-Gastaut syndromes in
kids. Both forms of epilepsy are rare.

SARASOTA COUNTY -- The county is moving to ban the cultivation and
sale of recreational marijuana if the practice is ever legalized in
Florida.

The County Commission last week unanimously voted to authorize its
staff to draft an amendment to current county laws to prohibit the
growing, processing and sale of recreational marijuana should it ever
become legal in the state. Commission Chair Nancy Detert was absent
for the vote.

The move comes several weeks after the commission approved the
county's first two medical marijuana dispensaries. The commission on
April 10 voted to allow Trulieve to open a medical marijuana
dispensary in a freestanding building in the Venice Pines Shopping
Plaza on Jacaranda Boulevard -- the county's first approved
dispensary. A day later, the board approved a request by
Sarasota-based AltMed to open a medical marijuana dispensary at 5077
Fruitville Road in the Cobia Bay shopping plaza.

Cathy Jordan credits pot with helping her defeat the odds in the
battle against Lou Gehrig's disease she's waged for more than 30 years.

And although she can now legally obtain the cannabis treatment she's
relied on for decades, Jordan is prohibited from what she and her
doctors swear is the best way for her to consume her medicine --
smoking joints.

Jordan is among the plaintiffs challenging a state law that bans
smoking pot as a route of administration for the hundreds of thousands
of patients who are eligible for medical marijuana treatment in Florida.

Florida's 16-month-old medical marijuana business is growing fast, as
dispensaries and growers rush to establish themselves. It's happening
even as court battles over state regulations for the young industry
rage on.

Florida's 16-month-old medical marijuana business is growing fast, as
dispensaries and growers rush to establish themselves. It's happening
even as court battles over state regulations for the young industry
rage on.

Rosa Howard spent 30 minutes in line Tuesday at a Trulieve medical
marijuana dispensary in Orlando, packed into a waiting room with
mothers, babies and seniors as the distinct smell of cannabis hung in
the air.

Politicians may have changed their tune, but the public's feelings on
marijuana seem set in stone - Sun Sentinel

Given that former House Speaker John Boehner is now working for a
marijuana investment company and that threats by U.S. Attorney General
Jeff Sessions to crack down on legal recreational marijuana were nixed
by President Donald Trump, we asked readers whether any of them have
changed their minds recently on marijuana legalization like some
elected officials seem to have.

Marijuana beer is the latest trend in South Florida's brewing
industry, but the cannabis terpenes oil used in the brews needs to be
tested and approved. Breweries in the area are planning to host
420-themed parties.

Marijuana beer is the latest trend in South Florida's brewing
industry, but the cannabis terpenes oil used in the brews needs to be
tested and approved. Breweries in the area are planning to host
420-themed parties.

Glorifying marijuana use is now a staple across pop culture, music and
Hollywood, where getting high is celebrated with nary a mention of the
public safety risks involved. But if you smoke, vape, or enjoy edibles
and get behind the wheel of a car while impaired, not only are you
breaking the law, you are putting your life and the lives of others on
the road in great danger.

Florida regulators have done far too little to make voter-approved
medical marijuana widely available for patients suffering from chronic
illnesses. A circuit court judge in Tallahassee ruled last week there
is a price for that obstruction, finding that in the absence of state
regulations, Tampa's Joe Redner is legally entitled to grow his own
pot for medical use. The ruling applies only to Redner, who has lung
cancer. But it's a victory for medical marijuana patients and their
advocates who should not have to wait for a stubborn bureaucracy to
get access to medical care that the Florida Constitution allows.

It didn't get much notice because it happened the same day Speaker of
the House Paul Ryan announced his retirement, but former House Speaker
John Boehner has announced that he's joining the board of Acreage
Holdings, an investment company concentrating on the marijuana
industry. In doing so, he added that his own position on legal
marijuana had changed as public opinion had come around on the subject.

And Boehner is far from the only previously anti-pot politician to
turn into an advocate.

TALLAHASSEE -- A Florida circuit court judge has ruled that a Tampa
man has the right to grow his own medical marijuana.

Leon County Judge Karen Gievers said on Wednesday that Joseph Redner
is entitled under state law to grow and use marijuana for juicing. The
77-year old Redner is in remission for lung cancer and is one of more
than 95,000 state residents who is registered as a medical marijuana
patient.

The ruling applies only to Redner but could open the door for others
who have said the state should allow whole-plant use.

The state's Department of Health immediately filed an appeal after the
ruling. Gievers also said in her ruling that the state continues to be
non-compliant in the implementation of Amendment 2. The amendment,
which passed in 2016, legalized medical marijuana in Florida.

Leon County Circuit Judge Karen Gievers has ruled that Tampa strip
club owner Joe Redner has the right to grow his own marijuana.

The ruling, released Wednesday morning, applies only to Redner,
77.

The Florida Department of Health had said Floridians are barred under
state rules from growing cannabis for their personal use, including
those who are legally registered as medical marijuana patients.

But Redner and other critics across the state say the health
department continues to create barriers for more than 95,000
registered patients in Florida that could benefit from marijuana.
Redner is a stage 4 lung cancer survivor and a registered medical
marijuana patient.

After battling Lyme disease and other ailments for nearly 20 years,
Bridgitte Pascale tried "almost everything" to alleviate her pain
without relying on opioids.

Though doctors prescribed Percocet and muscle relaxers, she turned to
acupuncture and later medical marijuana, which she says are the "only
things that help" with the chronic aches and pains she manages daily.

Such alternative treatments are emerging as safe havens for some
patients concerned about the dangers of painkillers. But while many
swear by the benefit, health insurance generally doesn't cover them.

A company that planned to open a medical marijuana dispensary south of
downtown Orlando is challenging the city's ordinance regulating such
businesses, alleging it violates state law.

Surterra Florida, which operates five dispensaries statewide, filed
the suit in Orange County Circuit Court last week and is asking a
judge to rule Orlando's law is "invalid and unenforceable."
Tallahassee Attorney William Hall, who filed the suit, is also seeking
a temporary injunction to keep the city from enforcing the law while
the court rules.

GAINESVILLE -- The University of Florida could start growing
industrial hemp as soon as the fall.

But the project still has to pass some hurdles before planting begins,
said Rob Gilbert, chairman of the UF/IFAS agronomy department.

The university's board of trustees approved the project Friday, and
now the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration must approve importing
industrial hemp seeds. Then the project needs to secure the $1.3
million it needs and the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer
Services must approve a planting permit.

Following President Trump's rollout of his administration's policy
response to the opioid crisis, it has become clear that the president
would rather waste federal resources trying to execute drug dealers
than allow Americans the option to use medical cannabis.

In his speech in New Hampshire, the president mentioned a terminally
ill patient's "right to try" experimental medications that can enhance
quality of life, but ignored the National Institute of Drug Abuse's
own grudging admission that cannabis use is linked to health
improvements in people suffering a range of diseases, from cancer to
AIDS.

While opioids hold center stage in the nation's drug war,
methamphetamine is making a destructive comeback. Though meth has
largely fallen off the public's radar, seizures and arrests are up,
and more people are dying from the drug. Its evolution is a reminder
of the durability of the illegal drug supply, the impermanence of any
single enforcement tactic and the need for a comprehensive approach to
fighting and treating addiction.

Potent, addictive and deadly, meth bears many of the pernicious traits
of opioids. It became popular in the early 2000s, easily produced in
small batches using the decongestant in over-the-counter cold
medicine. In rural parts of Tampa Bay, especially eastern Hillsborough
and Pasco counties and throughout Polk County, exploding "meth labs"
routinely drew law enforcement's attention. Congress responded in 2005
with a law putting pseudoephedrine behind the counter, limiting the
amount individuals could purchase and creating a tracking system
pharmacies were required to use. Meth became much harder to make and
faded from notice, overtaken by a new drug of choice: opioids.

Joe Redner, Tampa's outspoken strip club owner and lung cancer
patient, is confident he'll be able to legally grow his own marijuana
plants soon, after stating his case in trial before a state circuit
court judge on Wednesday.

Redner, 77, made his case against the Florida Department of Health in
a Tallahassee courtroom Wednesday on why he has a constitutional right
to grow his own marijuana plants. Leon County Circuit Judge Karen
Gievers is expected to rule on the case next week.

Or, as Peter Bensinger pointed out Thursday morning, opium-derived
drugs have exacted a higher death toll in a single year than nearly
two decades of fighting in the Vietnam War.

Appointed by President Ford in 1976 to become the nation's second DEA
director, Bensinger detailed the history of America's relationship
with the poppy to a Sarasota Institute of Lifetime Learning crowd
gathered at First United Methodist Church. As the leading cause of
death for U.S. residents under 50, the toll from opioids and its
synthetic counterparts today would've been unimaginable to Bensinger
when he was the nation's top drug cop.

Seth and Danielle Hyman with their daughter Rebecca 8, of Weston, are
seeking to have a strain of marijuana legalized to help prevent
seizures in their daughter, Rebecca, in 2014. Despite the legalization
of medical marijuana, Seth Hyman said the drug is still difficult to
get for is daughter. [Miami Herald]

When Seth Hyman first began to buy medical marijuana in Florida for
his 12-year-old daughter last year, he hoped it would be the answer to
fixing her life-threatening seizures.

Broward County Schools are hashing out plans for dealing with medical
marijuana on campus.

Under a proposed policy, students wouldn't be allowed to carry pot and
it could not be stored on campus. But a student's parent or caregiver
could bring it to school and administer it if the child has the proper
medical approval.

School staff would be not be allowed to handle it.

Pot use has long been banned on school campuses, but Florida voters
legalized it for medical purposes in 2016. The state Legislature last
year required schools to come up with a policy on dealing with it.

After a unanimous vote of support by the Sarasota City Commission,
medical marijuana dispensaries will now be operational in the city and
those with prescriptions will be able to utilize them immediately.

State legislation had preempted the city's ability to regulate the
dispensaries, which led to commissioners placing a temporary ban on
them until a solution could be found.

That solution happened last month when commissioners approved a plan
to change zoning codes, paving the way for those prescribed the drug
for various medical ailments to obtain it locally.

Florida needs to take advantage of every opportunity to bring
awareness and resources to the deadly opioid epidemic that is ravaging
communities across the state. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions
comes to Tampa today to discuss federal efforts to combat the crisis,
but if he sticks to his script of late he will focus on enforcement
and punishment instead of where the attention really needs to be:
rehabilitation. Without a meaningful commitment at all levels of
government to treating addiction, this crisis will continue claiming
lives.

A Florida judge has ruled that a lawsuit against the state's decision
to ban smokable forms of medical marijuana can proceed but without one
of the key parties.

Leon County Judge Karen Gievers ruled on Friday that three patients
suing the state can proceed because their claims that the ban impacts
them are sufficient. Gievers dismissed the motion by People United for
Medical Marijuana, which is the committee formed by Orlando attorney
John Morgan, because it lacks sufficient grounds. The organization has
10 days to file an amended lawsuit.

Across Florida the number of babies born to opioid-addicted mothers
spiked in 2016.

According to the state's Agency for Health Care Administration, 1,903
infants at Florida hospitals suffered from neonatal abstinence
syndrome in 2014. That number climbed to 2,487 in 2015 and to 4,215 in
2016.

At Sarasota Memorial Hospital, babies suffering from opioid addiction
withdrawal numbered 67 in 2014, jumped to 110 in 2015 and peaked at
114 in 2016.

TALLAHASSEE -- Two years after lawmakers approved a needle-and-syringe
exchange program in Miami-Dade County, the House and Senate are
considering taking it statewide and expanding the types of providers
who can offer the services.

House and Senate health care-panels on Wednesday approved bills that
would allow hospitals, clinics, medical schools and substance-abuse
treatment programs to begin offering needle-and-syringe exchange
programs to try to reduce the spread of diseases such as HIV, which
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated cost nearly
$380,000 to treat over a lifetime.

The medical marijuana constitutional amendment voters approved in 2016
allowed the Legislature to prohibit smoking in public areas. But the
law passed in 2017 to implement the amendment banned smoking entirely.

Medical marijuana patients must vape the product, or else use patches,
oils, edibles -- any other means but the most traditional way of using
the drug.